The Singaporean goalkeeper Widyawilis Selamat, a member of the IFF Athletes Commission, is looking forward for the upcoming Championships and to play against any of the teams in the WFC B-division, but the match against Slovakia on the 9th of December is the one that she looks forward to the most. Selamat feels that all of the teams are improving tremendously with each year.
Selamat started playing floorball in the university in 2003. She was previously a hockey goalkeeper and wanted to try something new that involved a faster pace and thought that floorball looked extremely fun.
Have you prepared for the WFC 2009 more with the team or individually?
– Individually, I have tried to improve my fitness and stamina for WFC by going for runs and heading to the gym, and most importantly, preparing myself mentally for the tough challenges that lie ahead. With regards to the team, we have quite a number of new players. So the first important thing was to try and make them feel welcomed to the team, and then prepare for WFC by having physical training sessions and trainings at least twice a week. Although new, everybody is making great effort to try and play cohesively as one.
You play as a goalkeeper, who do you think is/are the most dangerous forward that you will meet in the rink?
– I will let you know which is the most dangerous forward once I am in the rink and under attack ;). I´m certain everyone will play aggressively and that´s the scary part!
What Singaporean players should the opponents look out for and why?
– Based on their determination and aggressiveness on court, I would mention Jill Quek, Jamie Cheong and Stella Chia. This doesn´t mean that the rest should not be seen as a threat! :)
What is your best floorball memory so far?
– My best memory was in 2005 when WFC was held in Singapore. The support from your own country is quite an amazing feeling and we were struggling to beat Germany when our players were sent off many times with 2 min. offences and a last 5 min. offence. We managed to hold them back from scoring a penalty and eventually won when one of our girls scored. It was a wonderful feeling to have won in such a hard fought match with 4 versus 5 most of the time.
How do you think that floorball has developed in Singapore compared to when you started?
– The progress of floorball in Singapore has been great. Many schools are starting to pick the sport up and more people recognise and understand the game. Singapore has also organised many league division games as well as mini tournaments now and then. I hope to see floorball being recognised as a main sport in future in Singapore and that more government funding can be pumped in to help in the development of the youths in Singapore as they have so much potential.
More IFF Athletes Commission interviews will be published soon!
